Lubricating dispenser



June 29; 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL' 2,322,803

I LUBRICATING DISPENSER Filed May 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV NTOR.

BY a

PatentedJuneZQ, 1943 zszzm umarcs'rmc msrrmsra John I. noise-nu. Brooklyn, a. Y.', asaig'nor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a I corporation of New Jersey Application as, 21. 1940, Serial No. 386,456 3 Claims. (cl. sci-41.1)

The present invention relates to lubricating dispensers and the like in which a factory sealed container holding the lubricant may be inserted into the dispenser and has particular reference to a dispenser which will receive and retain. only a certain kind of container which may be opened for dispensing purposes only if it is properly received in the dispenser.

In the salesof lubricants such as automobile oils and greases packed in containers and delivered by way of enclosed dispensing devices, a practice which unfortunately is indulged in at some service stations is to deliver to the customer a grade of lubricant which is of an inferior quality to that which he orders. Unless the customer is watchful of the attendant he is not assured that he receives what he asks for.

The presentinvention contemplates overcoming this difficulty by providing a dispensing device which will take only factory sealed containment over the Elmer L. Hall United States Patent 2,026,588, issued January 'I, 1936.

An object therefore of the invention is the provision of a dispensing device adapted to receive a factory sealed container wherein a fixed key feature in the dispenser will preventthe use of any other character of container excepting that which the dispenser is adapted to receive and retain so that the customer will be assured of receiving the product of the company using such a special container.

Another object is the provision of such a dismore of lubricant and which provides improved feahues not found in the dispenser of the Nail patent mentioned above.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better under- .stood from the following description, which. taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. discloses a preferred embodiment thereof. x

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a dispensing device embodying the instant invention, the view illustrating a container in place within pensing device wherein the container may be opened for dispensing purposes after it is in position in the dispenser so that spilling of the container contents will be prevented during insertion of the container into the dispenser.

tion; and i Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section taken substantially along the broken line I! in Fig. 1.

As a preferred embodiment of the invention the drawings disclose a dispensing device of the carriage or portable type which includes a cylindrical shell or hollow casing ll adapted to receive a factory sealed container 12 of lubricant to be dispensed. The casing is provided with a top cover plate It and is carried on a base It having wheels l5 and a handle I for moving the device from place to place. The bottom of the casing H is preferably convex ln'cross section and is secured in any suitable manner in a concave seat ll formed in the base H. A

The bottom of the casing is formed with a dispensing opening II which aligns with an opening 22 formed in the base It. A gasket '23 is interposed between the casing II and its seat II and surrounds these openings; The opening 2! extends down through a depending boss 24 which is formed integrally with the base. The lower end of the boss is threaded and carries a coupling 25 having a flexible hose 26 connected thereto for discharge of the lubricant.

Inside the casing II in the bottom thereof there is a container support plate 30 which is secured in place in any suitable manner and which is formed with a raised rounded crown 3|. A

gasket 32 is interposed between the plate .and

the bottom of the casing around the dispensing opening 2|. The plate is formed with an opening 3| which is in alignment with the opening 2|. The plate also carries a resilient gasket 36 which extends above the plate as an arch which is in engagement with the crown 3| around the opening 34 and is adapted to constitute a seal with the container I! when it is in place in the casing.

The container I2 is preferably a sheet metal container comprising a cylindrical body it having top and bottom closures 42, 43 secured thereto in suitable seams 44. Inside the container there is a follower plate 45. In the bottom closure 43 there is an inwardly extending dome shaped wall section 46 which sets 01! a recess 41. This wall section is formed with a dispensing aperture 48 which issealed with a frangible disc- 49 adapted to be broken when in proper position within the dispenser'to dispense the lubricant from the container. The follower plate 45 is formed witha similar dome shaped wall section 50 which conforms to the contour of the wall section 46 so that the plate may follow down to the bottom of the container.

In order to associate the container with a particular brand of product a key feature is formed in its bottom closure 43. This-feature includes a circular depending channel bead i which is formed eccentrically of the bottom diameter of the container. At one place in the circular channel there is an enlarged b'oss section 52.

The dispensing device which is adapted to receive the container is provided with a cooperating key plate 53 which conforms to the contour of the eccentrically disposed channel bead 5| of the container bottom. Since the boss section 52 in the container bottom may be located in a number of places around the circular channel bead 5i either on the inside or the outside of the bead, a number of combinations may be readily made. Corresponding combinations may also be made in the key plate. assigned to a different brand of product but only containers having the combination which matches the key plate in the dispenser may be used in that particular dispenser.

Thus a dispenser adapted to dispense a certain brand of grease will have a key plate 53in its casing II which will match the bottom of the container in which such a particular brand of grease is packed. Only that container will fit onto the plate 53 and will make contact with the sealing gasket 36 to prevent leakage. Hence no other container can be used in that dispenser. The customer is thereby protected against the substitution of inferior products. To make sure that the plate 53 cannot be maliciously altered and to thus make it tamperproof, it is permanently secured to the container support plate 30 around the sealing gasket 36 in the bottom of the casing ll.

With the container in place in the casing ii the cover plate i3 is positioned on top of the casing and is secured by wing nut bolts 55. These bolts are carried on pivot pins 56 pivotally mounted in lugs 51 formed on the outside of the casing at intervals around its cylindrical wall. A resilient gasket 58 is interposed between the cover plate and the upper edge of the casing to provide a hermetic joint between these parts.

Provision is made for visibly inspecting the container which is locked in the dispenser. For this purpose there is a glass window 6! in the cover plate i3. The window is preferably circular and is disposed in a seat62 formed in the plate. A locknut 63 threaded onto a shoulder 64, which depends from the cover plate. holds the window in place against its seat and a gasket 65 interposed between the window and the locknut forms a hermetic joint around the window.

After locking the container in the casing H the frangible disc 49 in its bottom closure 43 is broken to permit dispensing of the lubricant.-

Breaking of the disc is preferably brought about by a cutting head 68 which is disposed in a recess Each combination may be' asaaeos 89 formedin the container-supporting plate 30 adJacent its dispensing opening 34. The cutting head is formed on a stem II which extends at an angle down through the support plate 30, the bottom of the casing II, a boss 12 formed on the base i4, and through a stufling box nut 13 secured in the boss. I

The lower end of the stem ll extends beyond the stufllng box nut II and is connected by a link 15 to an operating lever E8. The operating lever is mounted on a pivot pin 11 carried in a lug 10 formed on the base l4. The lever extends up through a slot I! in the base i4 and its upper end is formed with a handle 8| which is conveniently located for manual operation.

By actuating'the lever 16 in the proper direction the cutting head 68 is moved upwardly out of its recess 69 and is forced through the frangible disc 49 in the bottom of the container. The head, cutting through the disc, forms a dispensing opening 83 (Fig. 2) therein and bends the cut-away portion of the disc, which forms a tab .and passes through the openings 34, ll, 22 in the dispenser and is conveyed by way of the flexible hose 26 to the place where it is to be used. This a dispensing action is preferably brought about by air pressure. For this purpose there is provided an air inlet valve 86 which is threaded into a side of the casing ii and which has communication with the interior of the casing. This inlet valve may be connected by way of a flexible hose to a suitable source of compressed a r.

Compressed air entering the casing ll surrounds the container and enters it through a vent hole or aperture 88 which is punched in the top closure 42. This hole may be punched in the container top with any suitable instrument before the cover plate I3 is bolted into position on the casing or if desired the hole may be made automatically when the cover plate is being placed in final position. For this latter purpose there is provided a punch 89 which is fixed in the cover plate It and depends therefrom. The punch is formed with a sharp point so that it will readily pierce the container top. A groove 9| formed in the side of the punch permits the compressed air to pass into the interior of the container while the punch remains in the hole or aperture 38 in the container top.

Compressed air entering the container exerts its force on the follower plate 45- and thus pushes the plate down against the lubricant in the container. It is this action that forces the lubricant out into the dispensing hose 2.6 as hereinbefore explained. When the follower plate nears the bottom of the container it presses against the tab 84 made when the frangible disc 4'! is cut through and as the plate descends it forces'the tab down fiat against the bottom of the container. This permits the follower plate to descend to the very bottom of the container and thus completely empty the container.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that variouschanges may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of-the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbeiore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A device for dispensing the contents of closedmetically confining the container in the casing and having means thereon for cutting a venting aperturein said container flwhen the cover is forced home into sealingiposition, a compressed air inlet in said casing for admitting air into the casing and into the container through said aperture to force the container contents out through its dispensing opening and through the dispensing outlet in the casing, and a key plate permanently secured in the bottom of said casing and having a configuration conforming to and fitting the said predetermined end wall configuration of the container,.so that only containers having such predetermined end wall configuration will fit into dispensing position in the casing of said dispensing devicefi 2. A device for dispensing the contents of closed sealed containers having a wall of predetermined configuration, comprising a casing into which a sealed container is adapted to be'inserted and fully enclosed, a cover for closing said casing with a container in fully inserted position theremovable means carried by said device for producing said dispensing outlet in said sealed container after the same is fully seated in dispensing position within said casing, a key plate disposed in the base of said casing having a configuration fitting and corresponding to the predetermined configuration of said wall of an inserted container, so that only containers having such predetermined wall configuration will fit into dispensing position in said casing of the device, and means on the inner side of said cover disposed to engage an improperly inserted container having a non-fitting engagement with said key plate to prevent closingof the'cover on said casing.

3. A device for dispensing the contents of closed sealed containers having an end wall of predetermined configuration, comprising a casing into which a sealed container is adapted to be inserted and fully enclosed, said casing having a removable cover for closing the same and a dispensing outlet in registry with a dispensing opening made in the container, a normally retracted manually reciprocable cutter element operative in the dispensing outlet of said casing for producin the dispensing opening in the closed sealed container after the same has been in, said casing having a dispensing outlet in registry with a dispensing opening made in the container, normally retracted manually operative fully seated against the lower end of said casing, a key plate disposed at the bottom of said casing having a configuration conforming to and fitting the predetermined configuration of said container end wall, so that only containers having such predetermined end wall configuration will fit into v JOHN M. HOTHERSALL. 

